What's not to love about the Bird's-Eye Gilia?
The lovely Bird's-Eye or Tricolor Gilia is a lovely California native.
It is an annual and heavy nectar producer.
Last year I purchased two of these plants as seedlings from Annie's Annuals http://www.anniesannuals.com/
The blossoms are oh, so pretty, especially when a large group of them are fluttering in the breeze.
The plants reseed themselves and we now have a mini meadow of them in our native garden, all reseeded from last year's two plants.
And the pollinators just gravitate toward the blossoms.
The above photos are of a flower fly, an important natural enemy of plant pests such as aphids, thrips and other plant-sucking insects. Look at those red eyes!
The mining bee Andrena here is so covered from head to abdoment, to baskets and legs with the unusual blue pollen of gilia blossom that it almost looks like it is part of the blossom.
A Western Pygmy Blue butterfly taking a sip of nectar.
A honey bee is climbing into the blossom.
Part of the mini meadow of gilias
